AGE OF APOCALYPSE #1
Written by Dave Lapham
Art by Roberto De La Torre
Release Date: March 7, 2012
The Age of Apocalypse is back upon us for what feels like the 15th or so time, and while I came into this book with a very cynical outlook, Dave Lapham did a solid job of giving me a good swat upside the head for assuming anything about this book. In this first issue he does an excellent job of casting away much of the convoluted Age of Apocalypse history and allowing new readers to be engrossed in this new AoA world where the tables have seemingly turned for both mutants and humans. Lapham writes these characters well; this is an extremely complex task he has, writing characters we “know” as solid villains as the protagonists in this book. As readers it’s both fun and somewhat vexing to be rooting for a Stryker, but nevertheless Lapham unleashes a Prophet like we have never seen in this book. The final page is a fantastic cliffhanger and Lapham has taken me from being a reluctant reader of issue #1 to a surefire reader of #2. I applaud Marvel for taking some budget and doing something different with these X-characters rather than yet another Regenesis book with all the same names and faces in different configurations.
On the art side of the coin Roberto De La Torre gives readers a bleak world filled with despair. This isn’t just Hell for humankind, most of mutantkind is dying in the streets as well. De La Torre does a solid job evoking a feeling of despair throughout the entire book, though some of the panels focusing on the main characters rather than the cityscape could have been sharper in my opinion. Some characters lacked a definition at times for me to be able to tell who was who, but the book does not suffer for it. The style may not be my particular favorite, but it suits the book well.
This is a book I was completely on the fence about and tried solely due to a recommendation and I was impressed enough to add #2 to my pull list. This is more than a gimmick, there is a high quality story to be had here.
Verdict: 8.0/10
